Saturday, December 31, 2011

Limping again

Yes Miley was limping again this week. Im not sure what happened.  We had been hiking, no limping.  Went to my mom's house for Christmas and they have a good size backyard.  I let her and Java run but not to much, no limping.  I took her to the club to finish those last two jumps that needed the jump cup strips attached. I let her run some small sequences, no limping.



Then the next day she was out in the backyard. Its was around 6am. She wasnt limping when she got up but when she came in from being outside, she was really limping. Crap.  I dont know if she fell or what happened. Ugh!  She even went in my room and laid down. So unlike her. I gave her a Rimadyl. And hour later she was fine.  I havent given her any more Rimadyl but Ive restricted her again. No off leash running. The backyard is gated again, so she cant run free. She is confined to the den and kitchen. I still take her for walks except the day she was limping, I didnt let her do anything. And our walks arent that far and back to the flat surfaces.  I made an appt. with the Vet who does ultrasounds and is good at being about to see muscle tears or tendon tears. She couldnt do it this week so Miley goes Monday. Im assuming that maybe she has a tiny tear somewhere in her shoulder.  Although when I talked to the rehab vet about her possibly having a tear ( before she released her from rehab), she didnt think Miley would get better so quickly if she had a tear and as soon as I let her run, the  limp would show back up. Im not sure why it took a week , maybe I let her do to much to fast. Ugh.

Java is doing well. Still working on recalls.  Sometimes they are great and sometimes not.  One day we only took Java to the hiking park.  When we got to the back of the park, I let her off leash.  She did well for about an hour. Then I went to take a picture of something and my husband was watching her. He didnt see anything, but she took off running. Lucky we were in a valley and could see for a good distance.  I called her and she didnt come. Uh, scary. I had to use , "Pup, Pup, puppy" and then she came. Today I worked her again. She stopped to sniff an orange peel and wouldnt recall off of it. I had to go get her.  We worked more recalls. Then a dog barked, she took off running. I called her. She stopped on a dime and came running back. That made me feel a little better. 
She is having a hard not being reactive to other dogs.  Even at the class I teach where she really hasnt had a problem.  This week someone, who wasnt in class, was working their dog in the other room and had their other dog locked in a crate. It wouldnt stop barking.  And Java kept barking and growling. So everytime she did that, I put her in her crate. She stopped barking. The a lady in class came with a big border collie , Java went crazy.  I had to lock her up in her crate again. She finally got better.  It seems to be big dogs that she is having a problem with.  We walked at the park this morning. There were several people walking dogs.  I put her in a sit and clicked and treated every time looked at the dogs but didnt react.  She did much better by the end of the walk. So I guess thats what Im going to be working on. She had no problems at the agility field this week but no big dogs came to class.  One funny thing that happened . I was putting the chute away and its kinda hard to carry. While I was walking, Java jumped up and into the plastic barrel.  It was to funny.

I feel like this is a depressing post so on a good note........
For Christmas  my husband bought me an online class. Its the Silvia Trkman Running Contacts.  Im going to try and teach Java running contacts. I still need to paint my board.  You have to have a flat 12 foot board so the dog runs on it just like running on the ground. Will see how it goes. I can always change to a 2o/2o but keep the a-frame running.






(I know this one isnt in focus but its still cute to me)

11 comments:

Chris and Ricky said...

Oh no - sorry to hear that Miley started limping again! She looked so good in that agility clip - tight turns and reading you well. Fingers crossed that it is nothing serious.

Java is too darn cute!

Sara said...

I hope you enjoy Silvia's class. What a great Christmas present.

Sorry to hear about Miley. Hopefully they don't find anything too serious at the vet on Monday.

Kiyi Kiyi said...

Awesome about the Silvia Trkman class! I've taken 3 and they are great!!

Dawn said...

Sorry to hear that Miley is limping again! What in the world. She's not a dog that likes being held back, that is for sure!

Java is a card! Always into something. Love that last picture. I hope she gets the recalls 100% soon, as she's such a cutie!

Happy New Year to all of you!

Boondocks Love Shack Pack said...

Hoping everything turns out a-ok!

AROOOOOF!
Boondocks & The Love Shack Pack

Sophie said...

Poor Miley, limping again! ):

Sounds like you're on the right track with Java though. Try some counter conditioning with her for big dogs - Sophia Yin's videos are excellent!

As always, love the photos. :) Happy New Year's Eve!

Lian said...

Oh, I am so sorry to hear Miley is limping again. Have your vet checks on her limping paw? That's what happened to Sing. We all thought his limping was from the shoulder which originally it was but then it was the paw that causing the limp instead of the shoulder.

Java made me laugh!

And Boy, Lou gave you the best Christmas present!!! I am looking forward to hear all about your new running contacts!

Wishing you a successful and bright 2012!

Amy / Layla the Malamute said...

I'm so sorry Miley is limping again! That must be so frustrating.

The running contact class sounds very cool. A friend of mine switched to running contacts and her dog is doing awesome. I would love to do it with Layla, but I don't have any contacts to practice regularly enough.

Unknown said...

So sorry that Miley is limping again, hopefully a good rest can help speed up the recovery.

Java is really cute, always love to see her pictures.

Enjoy your online class with Silvia Trkman : )

Wishing you and your family a wonderful 2012!

manymuddypaws said...

Has anyone ever suggested the Control Unleashed book for you and Java? The "Look at that" game works wonders for reactivity. Best game ever. I think it would help you a lot.

I think rather than correcting her when she barks you need to be rewarding more for when she chooses to pay attention to you. That's what the Look at that Game builds- eventually the dog becomes conditioned to look at you when they see a dog (or whatever they react to), instead of barking. It doesn't take long to see results either. Usually within a month or so of doing it every day you will have the problem pretty under control. And that's even with really bad leash reactivity- Java sounds pretty mild, so you could be done even sooner than that!

Anyway, just a thought.

Sorry about Miley. I understand all to well the problems of reoccurring injuries. :(

Kathy Mocharnuk said...

whooo hooo you will love the ST class, it is GREAT! So sorry about Miley, that just has to be so frustrating, I feel so bad for you both, Maybe she will just all of a sudden have that leg finsih heeling and you will never have this problem again, that is what I am going to pray for....and Java, hey puppies at that age...they go through so many stages, but have you checked out the BAT stuff, that seems like some cool stuff-I have played around with it for Crickets fear issues with little kids or assorted people--always catches us unaware when I least expect it- or the puppy controlled unleashed is coming out ;), but I bet it is a stage.